I. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a vehicle splash guard, which covers a side sill of a side body outer panel constituting a side face of a vehicle, the side sill extending between a front wheel house and a rear wheel house.
II. Background
Side sills are doorsill portions that extend between a front wheel house and a rear wheel house of a vehicle side face. Vehicle splash guards are known that protect such side sills from splashing rain water, small pebbles and the like, and that also have a decorative function.
A flange is formed by folding over the edge of the rear wheel house to the vehicle inner side. A flange is also formed by folding over the edge of a side body outer panel constituting the side face on both sides of the vehicle into the rear wheel house. The splash guard has a rear wall that protrudes from its rear end into the rear wheel house and this rear wall covers the rear side of the flanges. Thus, also these flanges, which are sheet-metal components that are formed in the rear wheel house, are protected by the splash guard from splashing rain water, small pebbles and the like.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-54455 and Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2005-75056, for example, the rear wall of the splash guard is fixed to the flanges by a fixing means, such as a clip. This is in order to prevent that the rear wall of the splash guard undesirably comes in touch with the flanges due to vibrations, thermal expansion/contraction or the like, causing noise or damage.
A sealer is sometimes applied to the end of the flanges made of sheet-metal to which the splash guard is fixed. This is in order to prevent rain water or the like from intruding between the flanges, so that no corrosion occurs at the flanges made of sheet-metal.
However, since the location where the clip is fixed interferes with the location where the sealer is applied, the space for fixing the clips cannot be ensured. This may be addressed by extending the flanges and moving the location where the sealer is applied to the vehicle inner side, ensuring the space for fixing the clip, but with this countermeasure, there is the risk that the weight of the extended sheet-metal flange increases, and the yield deteriorates.
On the other hand, if the rear wall is not fixed with a clip to a sheet-metal component, then the gap between the rear wall and the sheet-metal component must be held by another means. Incidentally, if it is attempted to arrange a sponge or the like in the gap to ensure the gap, then the number of components increases, thus also increasing costs.
In view of the foregoing issues, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle splash guard with which a gap between a sheet-metal component and a rear wall of the splash guard can be maintained without impeding the application of a sealer to the sheet-metal component positioned at the edge of the rear wheel house of the vehicle, and without increasing the weight or costs.